Illuminatable display sign drums with ventilating means therefor



o 17, 1967 G. c. JACOBS ,348,038

ILLUMINATABLE DISPLAY SIGN DRUMS WITH VENTILATING MEANS THEREFOR Filed July 2, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I ,1 .2 L ag 7 W18 F] 20" m /3 INVENTOR GILBERT C. JACOBS I WMMIM ATTORNEYS Oct. 17, 1967 G. c. JACOBS ILLUMINATABLE DISPLAY SIGN DRUMS WITH VENTILATING MEANS THEREFOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 2, 1965 INVENTOR l GILBERT c. JACOBS AT TORNEYS United States Patent 3,348,038 ILLUMINATABLE DISPLAY SIGN DRUMS WITH VENTILATING MEANS THEREFOR Gilbert C. Jacobs, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Everbrite Electric Signs, Inc., South Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed July 2, 1965, Ser. N 469,198 Claims. (Cl. 240-47) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE To provide an illuminatable display sign drum especially adapted to house mercury varpor lamps in a relatively flat sign drum without overheating, the drum of the instant invention is formed of a pair of companion pan-like facing members which close relative to each other in a manner so as to provide a peripheral air vent for the cooling of the contained mercury vapor lamps and to also provide for peripheral illumination of the sign casing. The breadth and bulkiness of the sign casing or drum is minimized without sacrificing adequate means for ventilating the interior of the sign drum and its components and to dissipate generated heat. Interiorally of the peripheral vented channel there is an inset baffle belt to guard'the interior of the drum against undesirable entry of water, moisture, or foreign material.

This invention relates to improvements in illuminatable display sign drums and more particularly to an illuminatable display sign drum or casing for use in connection With mercury vapor lamps.

Conventional illuminatable display sign drums which are customarily used in elevated exterior positions are relatively large, bulky and heavy. The hollow interior of a sign drum or casing of this type houses the illuminating lamps or tubes, ballast and electrical connections, and means must be provided for affording access to the interior of the sign drum for servicing and replacing the elements housed therein and for cleaning the interior surfaces of the translucent faces of the sign casing which may bear the advertising indicia or display material.

In illuminatable display sign assemblages it is, of course, desirable that the sign drum be as flat and compact as possible, but this may result in a relatively restricted interior space which becomes overheated by the illuminating lamps, bulbs or tubes.

Heretofore it has been impractical to provide illuminatable display sign drums or casings with mercury vapor lamps because such lamps or bulbs generate much more heat than do standard electrical illuminating members. Mercury vapor lamps in such display sign drums are highly desirable, however, because of their great illuminating qualities and their long life, and the associated transformers will also have longer lives than is the case in a display drum assemblage using a high output fluorescent light or tube.

With the foregoing in mind it is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide an illuminatable display sign drum especially adapted to house mercury vapor lights in a manner so that the previous disadvantages are overcome by virtue of the high degree of ventilation provided by the improved display sign drum, the construction of the latter being such as to protect the interior of the drum or casing and its contents against the entry of rain and the elements.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide an illuminatable display sign drum formed of a pair of companion pan-like facing members which close relative to each other in a manner so as to provide for a peripheral air vent for the cooling of the contained mer- 3,348,038 Patented Oct. 17, 1967 cury vapor lamps, said arrangement also resulting in peripheral illumination of the sign casing in addition to the passage of light rays outwardly through the translucent faces of the pan-like drum members.

A further object of the invention is to provide an illuminatable display sign drum for mercury vapor lamps wherein the breadth and bulkiness of the sign casing or drum is kept to a minimum while still providing adequate and efficient means for ventilating the interior of the sign drum and the components therein with illumination of the drum periphery.

Further objects of the invention are to provide an illuminatable display sign drum for mercury vapor lights which is of strong, rigid and compact construction, which is provided with a peripheral cooling vent or channel interiorally of which is an inset bafile belt to guard the interior of the drum against the'undesirable entry of water and foreign matter, the drum being susceptible of easy opening for servicing, which drum or casing also presents a neat and attractive appearance, and which is otherwise well adapted for the purposes described.

With the above and other objects in View, the present invention consists 'of the improved illuminatable display sign drum and its parts and combinations as set forth in the claims, and all equivalents thereof.

In the accompanying drawings in which the same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the views:

FIG. 1 is a side or face view of the improved illuminatable display sign drum with parts broken away and in section;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the drum;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken approximately along the line 33 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the improved illuminatable display sign drum.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, it

will appear that the improved illuminatable display sign drum comprises a pair of complementary pan-like facing members 10 and 16' shaped as shown in the drawings and arranged, when in their closed position, with their open sides facing one another. The major portion of each panlike member 10 and 10' is formed of a sheet of translucent plastic material shaped to provide a relatively large face which in practice may bear lettering, pictorial representations, or other advertising indicia to be illuminated by the lamps or bulbs 11 within the drum. Additionally, each of the companion pan-like facing members 10 and 10 includes integral top and bottom slightly inclined surfaces 12 and 13 and integral annularly outwardly directed end surfaces 14. As shown in FIG. 1, the bottom surfaces 13 may be of arcuate formation. All peripheral portions of the pan-like members 10 and 10' are provided with flanges 15. Said pan member flanges 15 are received within the channeled portions 16 of flanged metallic bands 17 which girdle the inner ends of the pan-like sections 10 and 10' in their longest dimension and thus overlie the bottom portions and the end portions of the companion facing member or drum sections 10 and 10'. The inner ends of the companion bands 17 are flanged inwardly as at 17', with the flanged portions of one band being slightly spaced from the corresponding flanged portions of the companion band to provide around the drum or casing in its longest direction and intermediate its faces an annular vent or channel 18 for the purposes which will hereinafter appear. However, at the top of the drum or casing, as will best appear from FIG. 4, an inner leg of each band overlies a portion of a top horizontal angle bar 19 with the top portion of the band which carries the pan-like section 10 being hingedly secured to the underlying angle 19, as at 20, whereas the overlapping flange of the top portion of the band 17 for 19. The horizontal flanges of the companion angles 19 are bridged by a plate 21 bolted or otherwise secured thereto. n

The inturned flanges 17' (see FIG. 4) of the band member 17 for the pan-like section carry spaced apart angular clips 22. These clips 22 have mounted thereon interiorly of the casing or drum, by means of screws 23, spacer channels 24, each of which is about 1 /2" in length and which bridge the flanges 17 of the adjacent bands 17. Said spacer channels form spaced-apart supporting means for an annular baffie belt 25 which takes the form of an outwardly-opening channel supported interiorly of the closed drum or casing and above the inner surfaces of the band members 17 an-d coextensive therewith, except at the top of the drum. Therefore, about the entire periphery of the closed casing, cooling air from the illuminating bulbs 11, which are high heat producing mercuryvapor lamps, may enter into the casing and circulate therein by passing through the peripheral annular channel into the baflle belt 25 from whence the air is free to circulate throughout the interior of the drum and eifectively ventilate the same. Circulation may also be aiforded at the top of the drum through the spaces provided at the ends of the plate 21 over the legs of the top chanenl's 19. The baffling belt provided by'the spacedlymounted channel 25, which registers with the bottom and ends of the drum casing, forms a protective interior bafile relative to the vent or channel 18 so that rain and foreign matter cannot enter the interior of the drain from said areas. Protection for the vent along the top of the drum is provided by a canopy'plate 26, downwardly flanged at its side margins, which canopy plate is bolted to the base portions of certain brackets 27 which suspend the sign casing or drum from an arm 28 extending from an elevated support 29.

As was previously mentioned, the display sign drum is adapted to be illuminated by mercury vapor bulbs 11 positioned within the drum as shown and supported from suitably mounted circuit wire containing pipes 30 and 31. Mounted on the bottom channel 25 are ballasts or transformers 32 which are electrically connected with the bulbs 11.

As previously mentioned, one of the pan-like facing members, as member 10, is hingedly mounted along its upper margin so that it may be opened relative to the other pan-like member 10' when it is desired to obtain access to the interior of the display sign drum for cleaning the faces of the members 10 and 10 or for servicing any of the interior electrical components. If desired, both of the members 10 and 10' may be hingedly mounted. When the pan-like drum sections 10 and 10 are closed relative to each other as shown they may be held in closed position by releasable catches (not shown).

As was heretofore developed, the utilization of thercury vapor lamps for illuminating display signs, while highly desirable because of their high illuminating and long life qualities, has not heretofore been practical because of the high degree of heat generated within a compact housing. Due to the ventilation provided by the structure herein disclosed it is, pursuant to the present invention, entirely practical to'provide a relatively flat and compact illuminatable display sign which utilizes the desirable mercury vapor lamps. When the display sign is in use, not only are the sign facings effectively illuminated, but a peripheral band of illumination around the sign casing in the nature of a halo, is provided by the passage of light rays out through the peripheral vents or channels 18. Said peripheral channels, as well as the vent openings at the top of the sign casing underlying the canopy 26, ventilate the interior of the sign to such a degree that the excessive heat from the mercury vapor lamps is dissipated. By means of the interior channel structure 25 which is within the composite sign casing and spaced inwardly of the peripheral channel or vent,

together with the overhanging top canopy 26, theinterior of the sign casing is protected against the undesired entry of rain or foreign matter.

The improved peripherally ventilated and illuminated display sign drum or casing, besides being extremely compact and rugged, is of simple and inexpensive construe tion and is well adapted for the accommodationand use of mercury vapor lamps and is otherwise well suited for the purposes set forth.

What is claimed as the invention is: V

1. In an illuminatable display sign construction, a pair of hingedly associated, companion pan-like members arranged with their open faces in adjacency to form a hollow drum, margins of the walls adjacentthe openface of one pan-like member being separated from the corresponding margins of said walls of the companion pan-like member to provide an elongated peripheral vent, an

elongated baflling belt mounted within the drum co,-ex-

tensive with said vent and spaced inwardly thereof, means directly connecting the belt to the bands, and high heat generating illuminating means housed within the drum.

2. In an illuminatable display sign construction, a pair of hingedly associated pan-like members forming a hollow drum, margins of the open side of-each pan-like member carrying elongated external bands, the outer margins of the bands for one pan-like member being transversely spacedfrom the corresponding margins of the bands for the other pan-like member to provide an elongated vent, an elongated bafiling belt within the drum parallel to and spaced from said bands, local means car'riedby the bands and engaging the belt to hold it in spaced relation to the bands, and high heat generating illuminating means housed within the drum. 7

3. In an illuminatable display sign construction, a pair of hingedly associated pan-like members forming a hollow drum, each pan-like member including ends, a bowed bottom connecting the lower extremities of the ends and a flat top extending from and spanning the upper extremities of said ends, margins of the bottom and ends of each pan-like member adajcent its open face carryingan elongated external band, the outer margin of the band'for one pan-like member being transversely spaced'fr'om the corresponding margin of the band for the other pan-like member to provide an elongated peripheral vent, an elongated baffling belt within the drum co-e'x'tensive with but spaced inwardly from said bands, spaced-apart means 7 the ends and a flat top extending from and spanning the V upper extremities of said ends, margins of the bottom and ends of each pan-like member adjacent its open face carrying an elongated external band, the outer margin of the band for one pan-like member being transversely spaced from the corresponding margin of the band for the other pan-like member to provide therebetween' an elon-' gated vent, there also being a vent between adajcent marginal portions of the tops of said pan-like members, an elongated baffling belt within the drum co-extensive with but spaced inwardly from said bands, spaced-apart means carried by the bands and secured to the belt to hold it in spaced relation to the bands, a canopy spacedly mounted over the vent between marginal portions of the tops of said pan=like members, and mercury. vapor lamps housed within the drum to illuminate all surfaces thereof and to emit light through said vents to provide a halo of light around the drum.

5. In an illuminatable display sign construction, a pair of hingedly associated, companion pan-like members arranged with their open faces in adjacency to form a hollow, split drum, each pan-like member including ends, a bottom connecting the lower extremities of the ends and a top extending from and spanning the upper extremities of said ends, margins of the bottom and ends of each pan-like member adjacent its open face carrying an elongated external band, the outer margin of the band for one pan-like member being transversely spaced from the corresponding margin of the band for the other pan-like member to provide therebet-ween an elongated vent, there also being a vent between adjacent marginal portions of the tops of said pan-like members, an elongated baflling belt within the drum coextensive with but spaced inwardly from said bands, means carried by the bands and secured to the belt to hold it in spaced relation to the hands, a canopy spacedly mounted over the 1 vent between marginal portions of the tops of said panlike members, and mercury vapor lamps housed within the drum to illuminate all surfaces thereof and to emit light through said vents to provide a halo of light around 5 the drum.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,242,525 5/1941 Kirlin 24047 2,465,034 3/1949 Peters 24047 2,626,473 1/1953 Howenstine 240--2 NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner. RICHARD SHEER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN AN ILLUMINATABLE DISPLAY SIGN CONSTRUCTION, A PAIR OF HINGEDLY ASSOCIATED, COMPANION PAN-LIKE MEMBERS ARRANGED WITH THEIR OPEN FACES IN ADJACENCY TO FORM A HOLLOW DRUM, MARGINS OF THE WALLS ADJACENT THE OPEN FACE OF ONE PAN-LIKE MEMBER BEING SEPARATED FROM THE CORRESPONDING MARGINS OF SAID WALLS OF THE COMPANION PAN-LIKE MEMBER TO PROVIDE AN ELONGATED PERIPHERAL VENT, AN ELONGATED BAFFLING BELT MOUNTED WITHIN THE FRUM CO-EXTENSIVE WITH SAID VENT AND SPACED INWARDLY THEREOF, MEANS DIRECTLY CONNECTING THE BELT TO THE BANDS, AND HIGH HEAT GENERATING ILLUMINATING MEANS HOUSED WITHIN THE DRUM. 